'Is there somebody else who could do it better?' - Jurgen Klopp with an honest assessment of his Liverpool future

'Is there somebody else who could do it better?' - Jurgen Klopp with an honest assessment of his Liverpool future

Independent.ie

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted there is no one better than him to manage the Anfield club - and suggested he would already be out of a job if there was a suitable replacement waiting in the wings.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted there is no one better than him to manage the Anfield club - and suggested he would already be out of a job if there was a suitable replacement waiting in the wings.

In a frank and open interview with Sky Sports, Klopp suggested a top four finish in the Premier League this season would represent ‘outstanding success’ for Liverpool, as he suggested the demands on managers to deliver instant results is making the job more difficult than ever before.

Despite some disappointments over the last few weeks, Klopp tried to sprinkle some perspective on his side’s recent setbacks as he outlined a vision for the club’s future ahead of Sunday’s vital clash against top four rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

“When you reach a target, it’s fantastic,” Klopp stated. “If you don’t get it, it doesn’t mean you are bad or not the right person. Come on, let’s try it again.

“I always think about alternatives. Is there somebody else who could do it better?

“If I knew somebody who could do it better I wouldn’t be here. I am really convinced about the circumstances and the basis we have. How long it will take? I have no idea but everybody should see we tried every day really hard.

“I feel supporters still think I’m the right person in the right place so we feel that trust and faith. We have to use it but around us is a lot of quality. We need to respect this.

“It’s not only because we want it more or have wanted it for longer, it doesn’t make it more likely. We have to do it better and that’s what we are working on.

“I am manager of Liverpool football team and I really enjoy this job. Maybe there are easier jobs out there but it's really good.

“We have a lot of fans that maybe were not alive when we won the last title. My job is to make it more likely.

“I said at the beginning we cannot have the history of this fantastic club in our backpack. It makes no sense to carry it around.

“There is pressure and sometimes we are still not patient enough. In January and February you could feel everybody thought, it slips away again.”

Liverpool’s exit from both domestic cup competitions and a poor results in their Premier League challenges have made for a tough start to 2017 for club, but he was upbeat about the prospects of a strong end to the season.

“I would say this season going to the Champions League would be an outstanding success because of all the quality around us,” he added. “This season is a good example for how close and how tight it is.

“January and February cost us a lot and that’s true. Because we had injuries we had a few games that cost us energy.

“We lost two or three games too much, we could have won against Hull. We could have won against Swansea. Six points more and we are really on the neck of Chelsea. That’s how it is.

“It doesn’t mean because we lost these two games, everything else is wrong. But it also doesn’t mean it is perfect. We take all the information and really try to get better every day.”